Ukraine's Zelenskiy Talks ?Business? With Oligarch Kolomoyskiy

RFE11 Sep 2019, 10:15 GMT+10

A picture of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was posted on his administration's Facebook page meeting oligarch and former business associate Ihor Kolomoyskiy on September 10, with a message stating they spoke about "issues of conducting business in Ukraine."

They also focused on the energy industry, the message said, reminding visitors to the page that at a business forum in June, Zelenskiy called on "big business" to invest in infrastructural projects in eastern Ukraine and "help the state resolve social problems."

Zelenskiy, a 41-year-old comedian-turned-politician who has pledged to 'break the system' in Ukrainian politics, won a presidential election on April 21.

Three months later his Servant of the People party took a solid majority of 254 parliamentary seats in the 450-seat legislature, an unprecedented mandate that has set Zelenskiy up to carry out his campaign pledges.

His comedy shows have aired on Kolomoysky's television channel for nearly a decade.

Others seen in the picture include presidential office head Andriy Bohdan, who was Kolomoyskiy's personal lawyer and with whom Zelenskiy flew at least five times starting in January from Kyiv to Tel Aviv, where the oligarch was residing at that time in self-imposed exile.

Also present was Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk, who managed the social media campaign during Zelenskiy's run for office.

First presidential aide Serhiy Shefir is seen in the picture.

Shefir is a co-founder with Zelenskiy of Studio Kvartal-95 production company. He is a former director of the studio.